The Anti-Hero
by MJbookworm07
Summary: During a day at his "Stark Internship," Peter comes across a new super-person who appears to have very similar powers as him. The question now is, who is this new hero calling himself Venom, and is he really a hero or could he be Spider-Man's next foe? Written for the "Plot Twist" challenge hosted by My-Mental-Mind. Disclaimer: I don't own these marvelous characters or their story.


Peter Parker was perched on top of an abandoned warehouse just outside of Manhattan. He was munching on the lunch Aunt Mae had made for his day at his "Stark Internship." He reflected briefly about what his aunt would say if she ever found out.

As he was shuddering at his imaginary conversation with Aunt Mae, something flew past him, almost knocking him over. Instantly, he jumped up and pulled his mask over his face.

"Karen, what was that?"

"I'm not sure, Mr. Parker. It seems to be someone running around in a Halloween costume."

Peter quirked his head. "Another superhero?"

"Or villain."

Peter bent his wrist, shooting a web to a building across the street. "Why do you have to be so pessimistic, Karen?" He asked as he flew through the air.

It took about five minutes to finally catch up to the person in question who was swinging in a very familiar manner. Peter swung past, landing next to him ontop of a condo.

"Hey man," he said. "You new in town?"

The masked man turned towards Peter, fully revealing his costume. Peter looked him up and down, confused. The costume was JUST like his, except it was black and white. And it seemed that this new superhero had the exact same powers he did. It was confusing to say the least, but also intriguing. He'd never met anyone that was like him before.

Trying to be friendly, Peter extended his hand. "I'm Spider-Man. What's your name?"

The person in question glanced at his hand and then back up at him. Suddenly, Peter was being thrown off the building, the other guy's web blasters knocking him back.

On instinct, Peter shot a web to steady himself, swinging over to a window cleaning scaffold. He glanced around, but the guy in the black spider suit was gone.

"Who was that, Karen?" he asked, breathless.

"A villain, like I said."

Peter rolled his eyes and began to head home. "Yeah, yeah, don't brag."

The next day at school, the white and black Spider-Man look alike was all anyone could talk about. When Peter arrived at his team's lunch table, they were talking animatedly about it. Ned was arguing with Flash over whether or not he was Spider-Man's sidekick.

"Spider-Man doesn't have sidekicks, Flash! He's an Avenger, he doesn't need any." Ned was trying to explain.

Flash snorted. "Then why does he look exactly like Spider-Man? Do you think he just woke up one day and was like 'Hey, I think I'll copy Spider-Man for no reason whatsoever!'? No, I don't think so."

Ned groaned and turned to Peter. "Pete, tell him. Venom is not a sidekick. Right?" His best friend gave him a meaningful look.

Peter gave a look back that said 'Don't push it' but answered anyway. "I don't think he likes Spider-Man very much. I mean, we haven't seen them together at all. Also, I don't think he's a good guy. I mean, Venom? What kind of superhero name is that?"

Ned grinned, happy with the knowledge that he was right no matter what Flash argued, especially since he had a direct quote. "Exactly!"

Flash sighed, frustrated. "He's not a bad guy. Did you see that he stopped that robbery yesterday?"

That peeked Peter's interest. It didn't really add up. "He stopped a robbery?"

"Yeah, but he also attacked the police officers that showed up. Who does that?" Ned added.

"Maybe he's an anti-hero," M.J. pipped up causing Peter to jump. He hadn't really noticed that she was there. She was always so quiet until it mattered. "And why does he have to be a 'he'? This is 2018 after all."

Peter mused that over. "I don't think so," he said, slowly. "Doesn't seem like a girl."

M.J. laughed. "How would you know, did you have an up close encounter with Venom? Something you're not telling us, Parker?"

The blood drained from the boy's face as he glanced at Ned for help. "Wha-what? No! Of course not, don't be...don't be ridiculous."

M.J. eyed him suspiciously before bursting out into laughter. "I'm just kidding, Peter. You couldn't hide anything, you're like an open book."

Peter sighed and laughed nervously with her. He really wished that she would stop doing that. It always messed with his head.

Back home, Peter sat in his chair with his mask on so he could talk with Karen. "Karen, pull up the video from our encounter with Venom. I want to go over what we saw."

Karen obliged, asking what he was hoping to find. Peter didn't answer because he wasn't really sure. He watched again as he was shot off of the roof. He thought about what M.J. said. Not the part about Venom being a girl, it didn't really matter whether Venom was male or female. It just mattered what his intentions were. Anti-hero. Peter wasn't sure if he was ready to handle that. A villain? Easy. Another superhero like him? He liked making friends. But someone who wanted to do good but was also morally compromised? How would he handle _that_?"

He asked to see the footage from the robbery. He got the tail end of what happened. He saw the robbers hanging upside down by a black web, but the footage wasn't about how Venom caught them. It was more about how Venom was stealing weapons from the cops, tying them up, and using civilians to get away.

"What do you think, Karen? Villain or hero?"

"I already told you what I thought, Peter. Definitely the workings of a villain." Peter rolled his eyes. He always took Karen's advice to heart, but knew that it was also Mr. Stark's personality coming through. He did make the interface system, so it was only natural that some of his own personality would seep in. The stubbornness was the most evident trait.

"Well, Karen, let's go find out."

After putting on the rest of his suit and sneaking out his window, Peter began roaming the city, hoping to come across Venom. About an hour into this mission, he finally heard something on his police scanner. " _Robbery in progress on 5th and 12h. Venom spotted. We need backup immediately!"_

"This is it, Karen!' he said, swinging into action.

When he arrived, Venom had just finished with the robbers and was squaring off with the police. Peter flipped in between them, hoping to calm everyone down.

"Hey there, man. Let's all just calm down. We don't need to hurt anyone, okay?"

Venom crouched down, ready to battle. "Back off, Spider-Man." he growled, his voice muffled by the mask.

Peter put his hands up. "Look. I'm just trying to help. Clearly, you are't that bad, if you're stopping crime. But why are you attacking police officers? That doesn't look too good, buddy."

Venom squinted. "They attacked first."

"Well...with a name like Venom, can you blame them? Maybe try something a _little_ nicer?"

The masked man scoffed. 'What, like Spider-Man?"

Well that was offensive. What was wrong with his superhero name? "Look, buddy, I'm just trying to help."

"Don't," he growled again right before his arm turned into a black, tar like web and came shooting towards him, knocking him back into a squad car hard enough to crush it.

"He's getting away," Karen informed, calm as ever.

"Yes, thank you, I know!" Peter staggered to his feet and began to chase after Venom, angry now. "What in the world was that? I can't do that!"

He could hear the shrug in Karen's voice, "Maybe you two aren't as alike as you thought. Villain, remember?"

Peter didn't answer. _I'm not so sure._ He mused to himself.

He began to gain on his target. "Hey, Venom! Stop-look I just want to talk!" Venom turned as if he were responding, but Peter found himself pinned to a wall instead.

"Back off, Parker."

His eyes widened. _What?!_ "How do you know who I am?"

Venom didn't answer, just began running again. Fueled by the need to protect his identity and Aunt May, as well as his need for answers, Peter broke free from the black web and shot one of his own. He caught Venom by the feet, pulling him back towards the roof.

Venom knocked him back, kicking him the gut, but Peter retaliated with a punch of his own, sending Venom flying into a wall. Quickly, he shot web after web to keep Venom from moving. Once he was satisfied that Venom couldn't escape, he approached him slowly.

"Look, dude, I'm not trying to fight you. We're clearly on the same side, maybe I can help. How do you know my secret identity."

Venom turned as best he could, looking Peter square in the eye. "Like I said earlier, you're an open book, Parker."

Peter froze, remembering those words from lunch. He stared at Venom, speechless. After a while, all he could manage was " _M.J.?!"_

A smirk, "I told you Venom could be a girl."

Before Peter could respond, she was cutting free from his web and knocking him backwards. She stood over him as he stared at her in return, still completely shocked. "I'll let you help me, but let's get one thing straight: I'm _nobody's_ sidekick."

And with that she was off, swinging away to who knows where.

Peter just laid there, unsure of what to think. Not only did M.J. know who he was, she was also a superhero! How did this even happen? How long had she been like that? What was he going to _do?_

"Well," Karen began slowly. "Tomorrow is going to be awkward."


End file.
